open | a respite among so many troubles

[complementing]

WHO: You!
WHERE: A Japanese restaurant in town.
WHEN: Forward dated to April 15th
WHAT: Cherry blossom viewing, as well as a belated Lunar New Year party, organized by Minako and Mako! Come relax before (or after) all of your questing.
WARNINGS: None foreseen!



You might have gotten a quick text about a belated Lunar New Year celebration. Maybe there was even a cute emoji attached to it, depending on how close Mako felt to you. But in general, it's time to celebrate the Year of the Dog. He's brought some basic things like dumplings, and baos. But he would've asked for participants to bring more food.

Because what good is a Lunar New Years without lots and lots of food?

He also chipped in a few bucks to help with the drinking situation. Because what's Hanami without... well. Getting drunk.

---

Speaking of getting drunk, what you can look forward to from the Japanese side of the celebration is plenty of beer, sake, and highballs to go around. Drink, be merry, drink some more, and enjoy the sight of sakura petals falling from the trees right above and beyond the back patio. Inspired by their fleeting beauty? There's a little poster explaining what haiku is and inviting you to compose one, with the example haiku the most famous one by Matsuo Bashou: furu ike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto.

Or if you don't get full from Mako's food, why not try the restaurant's yakitori too? Or all of their sakura flavored foods. Literally anything under the sun you can think of, they'll have added sakura to it.

Finally, to celebrate the Year of the Dog, Minako has brought Koromaru to the party. Please enjoy cuddles from this good, smart, and energetic pupper?! He will be passing around wrapped packages with some dog themed cookies in them.

Comments

[belligerentwarrior]

[Freya tears off a small chunk of the bun, chewing on that thoughtfully for a moment.]

Called it Oerba. Small, rural place. Had all these bright, colorful flowers all through it. Not so much like these trees. [She waved vaguely at said tree.] More like wildflowers.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Nyu hummed again, thinking about that. The meadows she passed through seemed to have a lot of little flowers too, where the trees weren't too full of leaves yet and the sun still shone through.]

They sound pretty too. Was it in a forest?

[belligerentwarrior]

Mn. [Freya shakes her head as she hums.]

I don't think so. There were a buncha cliffs and plateaus surrounding it, so I'm betting it's in the desert somewhere. Had a big river runnin' through it that opened up to a bay, then the ocean. Don't remember much else.

[That she wanted to talk about, anyway.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[The girl made a speculative kind of noise, somewhere between a squeak and another hum. The ocean she'd seen by now, and...the creek she'd fallen in wasn't very impressive, but a river would be. She'd never seen a desert with flowers, but she also hadn't seen any deserts at all.]

Did you like it there?

[belligerentwarrior]

[That caused Freya to go quiet, and she leans back in her chair, staring up at the blossoming tree.]

I don't know. [Freya didn't remember much of her other self's childhood other than the tragedies, and the branding. But, from her outrage about the war during the branding ceremony...]

...I think so. Liked a lot of the people, anyway. [It was a good enough guess for this strangely-childlike Lucy, Freya supposed. Liked them enough to get worked up for their sake, anyway.]

[Freya shakes her head a little to pull herself out of the thoughts, and nods over at Nyu's tray of food.] Those should be good by now.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Where Nyu had obliviously skipped past most pauses and quiet moments, this one made her blink and tilt her head. Had she said something wrong?

But Freya continued, and wasn't angry. Nyu passed by this one too, no longer worrying about it. She perked up by the end, instead.]

Nyu!

[Her thoughtful contemplation of the little, limited things she understood was put on hold in favor of shoving half a dumpling in her face. Like right now.

They were delicious, shut up.]

[belligerentwarrior]

[Freya chuckles as she tears off another piece of hers.]

They're gonna be mad at me if you choke, you know.

[Actually, that probably wasn't true. Freya was trained for that kind of thing, after all. But whatever, if it taught the kid better habits. Or. Something.]

[She wasn't pretending to understand what happened with Lucy.]

[long_live_the_queen]

Nyu!

[Or at least that's sort of what it sounded like; the noise was understandably a bit muffled. It took a longer moment for Nyu to swallow, she'd been slightly too enthusiastic there. But she did, and didn't have any trouble breathing or talking normally again.]

I'm fine!

[And she actually meant it.]

[belligerentwarrior]

[Freya takes the time to finish her own dumpling.]

So you really don't remember a thing, huh? Bet you're tired of questions like that.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Her voice turned marginally less cheerful, and she didn't pick up another dumpling in the meantime.]

I remember not remembering something. It was important, though.

[Nyu made a little frustrated noise, at least as frustrated a noise as she could make.]

But my name's not...I don't remember what my name is. But I'm not Lucy. I'm not that person.

[It was starting to bother her, all the people who kept saying that. She didn't even know anything about that person. She was herself. That was all.]

[belligerentwarrior]

[The change in behavior doesn't go unnoticed, but Freya's voice remains casual.]

Not askin' about Lucy. I'm askin' about you. [It was a vague question, and one that could go either way, depending on how Nyu answered.] So, no name. Nothing about how, or jobs, or school? Childhood?

[long_live_the_queen]

[Nyu frowned, looking at her empty hand. There were calluses on it, little scars from cuts she didn't recall. She knew how to speak, just needed to remember how, like snatching back pieces of a dream. Where'd she learn that to begin with? Where did she even come from?]

...I don't remember those things. Minato had to tell me what the city was called. I don't know where I was before.

[belligerentwarrior]

Mm. [Freya tilts her head a little at Nyu, equal parts considering the girl and simply observing her.]

Well, don't sweat it. If you don't know, you don't know, yeah? I know what that's like, forgetting something important. Best you can do is try to figure it out with the pieces you've got.

[long_live_the_queen]

You too?

[Nyu was surprised, looking up at Freya and away from her hand.]

When do you start remembering things again?

[belligerentwarrior]

[That... was a hard one to explain, with it being a fragment from her other life.]

Haven't remembered yet. Only really heard bits and pieces about it from someone else and, [Freya vaguely waved a hand, in some kind of emphasis. For what, she wasn't sure.] what they said kinda fit with all the other broken little pieces I did remember. So it's more of a guess, you know?

All we've got to do is figure out who knows about you.

[long_live_the_queen]

Oh. [Nyu sounded a bit dejected.] That's...hard.

[Everyone asked for Lucy, no one asked about her until she met them first.]

What if they don't remember my name either? If I don't know their faces, and they don't know my name, then...

[This was making her head hurt.]

[belligerentwarrior]

Like I said, don't worry your head about it. What good's that gonna do?

You said something 'bout a forest, yeah? Maybe we'll head out that way, if you want.

[long_live_the_queen]

[The gloomy thoughts in her mind dispersed, like clouds chased away by a breeze.]

Nyu! It was pretty there, too. I could show you where I was, but I don't think that was a good place.

[belligerentwarrior]

[Freya's smile quirked up a little arrogantly at the corner.]

Don't you worry; I've been through my share of those. You'll be safe with me.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Nyu mumbled a little, looking at Freya in concern.]

Are you sure? I think it's where I started to forget.

[belligerentwarrior]

[She shrugged casually.]

Sure as I'll ever be. Don't you want to know what happened?

[long_live_the_queen]

[Another mumble, this one slightly more distressed.]

I do, but what if it's scary?

[belligerentwarrior]

[Freya cocks her head, leaning back a bit more in her chair.]

And just how d'you think it'll be scary?

[long_live_the_queen]

I...don't remember.

[Nyu didn't know about it, so it probably should be scary. But...was it? Maybe she was mistaken.]

I was a shadow...thing there, I think. But I didn't see anyone scary...

[belligerentwarrior]

A shadow-thing?

[She had turned into a shadow-thing, or... had this not-Lucy come from the shadow-thing? That's a start, at least, even if Freya didn't want to point that out to Nyu.]

You only kinda remember it?